Shepherd Tennis Teams Kick Off Season With Slow Start

Shepherd University’s women’s tennis team, entering the season with low expectations, could not stop George Mason University as they lost 9-0 in a Tuesday, Sept. 9, scrimmage.

“Even though the schools we played were strong programs, it enabled us to evaluate the needs of the individual players. This will allow us to work on specific skills in our practices this week to get ready for our conference matches. Our effort as a team was strong and it is a promising outlook for our season,” said Coach Andrew Bosco.

Bosco added that the preseason poll is an accurate assessment of other teams. “Our goal is to finish in the top four teams in the MEC.” he added.

A busy week of tennis continued when Shepherd took on the University of the District of Columbia on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Both the ladies’ and the men’s teams fell to UDC. The women’s team lost 7-2 with two default wins. Junior Chloe Raines and senior Stacy Brewbaker added a default win at number three doubles and Raines also gained a default victory at number six singles. The men’s team fell 9-0. Sophomore Grant Davis was the only one who took his singles match to three sets.

On Friday afternoon, the Lady Rams hosted West Virginia State University. The WV State Yellow Jackets were picked to win the MEC in the same poll that listed Shepherd as fifth. The Rams fell 9-0 in this tough match-up.

To finish off the week, Shepherd had a double header scheduled for Saturday morning. The Rams hosted the University of Charleston, falling 7-0. However, senior Katelyn Mumaw and freshman Molly Lovern kept their number one doubles match close with a score of 8-6. Due to rain, neither Mumaw nor Lovern were able to finish their singles matches. The much anticipated second match against Alderson-Broaddus was postponed.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action on Sept. 24 when they host Mount St. Mary’s.

POPULAR CATEGORY

The Picket is a student managed digital newspaper on the campus of Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Oversight provided through the Picket Advisory Board made up of local editors and past Picket editors. Financial support for the Picket comes from the Shepherd Student Government Association and local advertisers. Editor in Chief Andrea Monsma; Managing Editor Sarah Smith; Arts and Styles Editor Chloe Johnson; Faculty Adviser Joyce Barrett